AN ACT AUTHORIZING MUNICIPALITIES TO ENFORCE CERTAIN BLIGHT REGULATIONS WITHOUT PROVIDING NOTICE OR AN OPPORTUNITY TO REMEDIATE.

Senate
SB272 / File No. 152 1

General Assembly File No. 152
February Session, 2026 Senate Bill No. 272

Senate, March 24, 2026

The Committee on Planning and Development reported
through SEN. RAHMAN of the 4th Dist., Chairperson of the
Committee on the part of the Senate, that the bill ought to pass.

AN ACT AUTHORIZING MUNICIPALITIES TO ENFORCE CERTAIN
BLIGHT REGULATIONS WITHOUT PROVIDING NOTICE OR AN
OPPORTUNITY TO REMEDIATE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subparagraph (H) of subdivision (7) of subsection (c) of 1
section 7 -148 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is 2
substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 3
(H) (i) Secure the safety of persons in or passing through the 4
municipality by regulation of shows, processions, parades and music; 5
(ii) Regulate and prohibit the carrying on within the municipality of 6
any trade, manufacture, business or profession which is, or may be, so 7
carried on as to become prejudicial to public health, conducive to fraud 8
and cheating, or dangerous to, or constituting an unreasonable 9
annoyance to, those living or owning property in the vicinity; 10
(iii) Regulate auctions and garage and tag sales; 11
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(iv) Prohibit, restrain, license and regulate the business of peddlers, 12
auctioneers and junk dealers in a manner not inconsistent with the 13
general statutes; 14
(v) Regulate and prohibit swimming or bathing in the public or 15
exposed places within the municipality; 16
(vi) Regulate and license the operation of amusement parks and 17
amusement arcades including, but not limited to, the regulation of 18
mechanical rides and the establishment of the hours of operation; 19
(vii) Prohibit, restrain, license and regulate all sports, exhibitions, 20
public amusements and performances and all places where games may 21
be played; 22
(viii) Preserve the public peace and good order, prevent and quell 23
riots and disorderly assemblages and prevent disturbing noises; 24
(ix) Establish a system to obtain a more accurate registration of births, 25
marriages and deaths than the system provided by the general statutes 26
in a manner not inconsistent with the general statutes; 27
(x) Control insect pests or plant diseases in any manner deemed 28
appropriate; 29
(xi) Provide for the health of the inhabitants of the municipality and 30
do all things necessary or desirable to secure and promote the public 31
health; 32
(xii) Regulate the use of streets, sidewalks, highways, public places 33
and grounds for public and private purposes; 34
(xiii) Make and enforce police, sanitary or other similar regulations 35
and protect or promote the peace, safety, good government and welfare 36
of the municipality and its inhabitants; 37
(xiv) Regulate, in addition to the requirements under section 7 -282b, 38
the installation, maintenance and operation of any device or equipment 39
in a residence or place of business which is capable of automatically 40
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calling and relaying recorded emergency messages to any state police 41
or municipal police or fire department telephone number or which is 42
capable of automatically calling and relaying recorded emergency 43
messages or other forms of emergency signals to an intermediate third 44
party which shall thereafter call and relay such emergency messages to 45
a state police or municipal police or fire department telephone number. 46
Such regulations may provide for penalties for the transmittal of false 47
alarms by such devices or equipment; 48
(xv) Make and enforce regulations for the prevention and 49
remediation of housing blight or blight upon any commercial real 50
property, including regulations reducing assessments . [and 51
authorizing] Any such regulations shall define blight, establish a duty 52
to maintain property and specify standards to determine if there is 53
neglect of such property, authorize designated agents of the 54
municipality to enter property during reasonable hours for the purpose 55
of remediating blighted conditions [, provided such regulations define 56
blight and require such ] and require the municipality to give written 57
notice of any violation to the owner of the property upon which blighted 58
conditions exist and provide a reasonable opportunity for the owner to 59
remediate the blighted conditions prior to any enforcement action being 60
taken, except that a municipality may take immediate enforcement 61
action without providing such written notice or opportunity to 62
remediate in the case of a violation at a property that is the [third] 63
second or [more] greater such blight violation at such property during 64
the prior twelve -month period . [, and further provided ] No such 65
regulations shall [not] authorize such municipality or its designated 66
agents to enter any dwelling house or structure on such property. [, and 67
including regulations establishing a duty to maintain property and 68
specifying standards to determine if there is neglect; ] Any such 69
regulations shall prescribe civil penalties for the violation of such 70
regulations (I) for housing blight upon real property containing six or 71
fewer dwelling units, of not more than one hundred fifty dollars for each 72
day that a violation continues if such violation occurs at an occupied 73
property, not more than two hundred fifty dollars for each day that a 74
violation continues if such violation occurs at a vacant property, and not 75
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more than one thousand dollars for each day that a violation continues 76
at a property if such violation is the third or [more] greater such 77
violation at such property during the prior twelve-month period, (II) for 78
housing blight upon real property containing more than six but fewer 79
than forty dwelling units, not more than ten cents per square foot of each 80
residential building upon such real property for each day that a 81
violation continues, (III) for housing blight upon real property 82
containing forty or more dwelling units, not more than twelve cents per 83
square foot of each residential building upon such real property for each 84
day that a violation continues, and (IV) for blight upon any commercial 85
real property, not more than ten cents per square foot of any commercial 86
building upon such real property for each day that a violation continues. 87
If any such civil penalties are prescribed, such municipality shall adopt 88
a citation hearing procedure in accordance with section 7 -152c. For the 89
sole purpose of determining if a violation is the [third] second or [more] 90
greater such violation at such property during the prior twelve -month 91
period, "violation" means a violation of any municipal blight regulation 92
for which the municipality has issued a notice of violation and either, in 93
the determination of such municipality, the conditions creating such 94
violation were previously cured or one hundred twenty days have 95
passed from the notice of violation and the conditions creating such 96
violation have not been cured. A third violation may also be established 97
where three or more conditions constituting such violation exist at a 98
property simultaneously; 99
(xvi) Regulate, on any property owned by or under the control of the 100
municipality, any activity deemed to be deleterious to public health, 101
including the burning of a lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe or similar device, 102
whether containing, wholly or in part, tobacco or cannabis, as defined 103
in section 21a-420, and the use or consumption of cannabis, including, 104
but not limited to, electronic cannabis delivery systems, as defined in 105
section 19a -342a, or vapor products, as defined in said section, 106
containing cannabis. If the municipality's population is greater than fifty 107
thousand, such regulations shall designate a place in the municipality 108
in which public consumption of cannabis is permitted. Such regulations 109
may prohibit the smoking of cannabis and the use of electronic cannabis 110
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delivery systems and vapor products containing cannabis in the 111
outdoor sections of a restaurant. Such regulations may prescribe 112
penalties for the violation of such regulations, provided such fine does 113
not exceed fifty dollars for a violation of such regulations regarding 114
consumption by an individual or a fine in excess of one thousand dollars 115
to any business for a violation of such regulations; 116
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2026 7-148(c)(7)(H)

PD Joint Favorable

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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact: None
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect
All Municipalities See Below

Explanation
The bill allows municipalities to take immediate enforcement action
against blighted properties after a second violation and without
providing the owner notice of the violation and an opportunity to
remediate the blighted condition.
This may result in a potential cost to municipalities beginning in FY
27 to the extent more action is taken against blighted property , with a
corresponding potential revenue gain to the extent that more fines are
assessed. There is also a savings to municipalities beginning in FY 2 7
associated with fewer notices sent to owners of blighted property.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to the number of blighted properties.

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OLR Bill Analysis
SB 272

AN ACT AUTHORIZING MUNICIPALITIES TO ENFORCE CERTAIN
BLIGHT REGULATIONS WITHOUT PROVIDING NOTICE OR AN
OPPORTUNITY TO REMEDIATE.

SUMMARY
This bill allows municipalities to take immediate enforcement action
against blighted properties after a second, rather than third, violation at
the property within a year . The bill applies to the enforcement of
municipal blight regulations for housing and commercial properties
adopted under the general municipal powers law (see
BACKGROUND).
Under existing law and the bill, immediate enforcement action means
enforcement action taken without giving the owner notice of the
violation and a chance to correct it. Under the bill, a municipality can
find there is a second violation if it previously issued a notice and either
(1) the conditions creating the violation were resolved but have
reoccurred or (2) 120 days have passed and the violation still exist. This
is generally the same standard that applies under current law for
determining whether there is a third or subsequent violation.
The bill also makes technical and conforming changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026
BACKGROUND
Local Blight Regulations
The general municipal powers law authorizes municipalities to make
and enforce regulations to prevent and remediate blight and set fines for
each day a violation continues. Municipalities that issue citations for
blight violations must establish a citation hearing procedure for owners
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to contest their fines (CGS § 7-148(c)(7)(H)(xv)).
Another law specifies that unpaid fines imposed under a blight
regulation constitute a lien on the property and generally take
precedence over all other liens and encumbrances, except taxes (CGS §
7-148aa). The law also authorizes municipalities to enact a n ordinance
imposing a special assessment on blighted housing to cover blight
enforcement and remediation costs and makes any unpaid assessments
a lien on the property (CGS § 7-148ff).
COMMITTEE ACTION
Planning and Development Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 20 Nay 0 (03/06/2026)